Dispensing machine



Jan. 22,1929.-

G. s. Qgoxa DIsPENsINs MACHINE Filed Marqh 10. 1928 2 Sheets-Shea?lATTORNEY Patented Jan. 22, 1929.

UNITED f sTATss GEORGE s.' cooxE', or ALEXADRIABAY, New Y'oRK.

DIsPENsING MACH'I'NE.

application iii-ea March 1o, 1928. f serial N6. 260,636.

The invention generally has reference to' hand actuated devices fordispensing articles one at a time as desired for use and primarily hasfor its object to provide a simple, attractive, sanitary andeconomically manu# actured device of the character stated which isadapted for dispensin soda water straws', or similar longitudinalgbodie's, and whe-rein means are provided for assuring'proper individualdischarge of the articles, alltend# ency of the straws to turn askew inthe device or to stick together near or in the discharge passage beingobviated.

Other objects will in part be obvious and in part be pointed kouthereinafter.

To the attainment of the aforesaid objects and ends, my inventionconsists in the novel. details of construction, combination andarrangement of parts, all of which will be first fully described in thefollowing detailed description, then be lparticularly,pointed out in theappended' claims, reference being had to the accompanying"k drawings,inwhich Figure 1 isa perspectiveview'of the'invention.

Figure 2 is a vertical 'cross section taken on the line 2-2 onIfig'ii'ier,y the "parts/being shown in the straw disharging position in'full lines. v

Figure 3 is an inverted plan view of the housing shell illustratingthe'operating mechamsm.

Figure 4 is a'. transverse lsection fthe com-l plete device ta'ken onthe line 4-44 nFigure 2.

Figure 5 is an enlarged di'agraminaticedge view of one of the strawholding and re'- leasing members yand"'illustrates its lIlation to thestraw being 'discharged dringithe discharging action.

Figure 6 is 'a detail perspective viewof vone of the holding andreleasing members per se.

In the drawings 1 designates the base of the device which includesbeveled defining edges and a bottom plate 2toi which'the rectangular'body shell 3 is Vsecured through the medium of the fixed brackets 4carried by the shell and the securing screws 5 which pass throughapertures the bottom plate 2 and thread into sockets in thesaidbrackets', see Figures 2' and 8. k

The open topl of the shellB isfcovered by a top' o'r cover plate G whichis provided with depending positioning andv seering' brak'zletsv 7, oneot which is' apertured toffreceive `a keeper pin 8 which projectsinwardly `from 'parts'are in -thevnormal orV at rest the'front wall 'ofthe shell near the top and the other thereof being provided with athreaded tapl to receive the securingscrew S? which'passesthrough asuitable aperture in the rear wall of the shell. See Figure 2.

l/Vhen mounting the cover 6 it is only necessary to bring' the aperturedbracket and pin 8 into. engagen'ientv and,'when the rear edge of thesaid cover has been lowered to position, to mount the securing screw 9.The devices 7, 8 and 9' serve to properly position the ycoverGA and tohold it against inadvertent drop flange 15'v depending from thefront'edge of the shelf and on theother or front side bv an abutmentplate 16y which 'also' carries a dropflan'ge 17 "spaced from and inparallel relation withthe flange 15 lto orin-v the 'said yslotway,I andis spaced back from the window to provide asample displayl trough 18,see

vTnlrpose for which will presently'appear see yFiguresv I2, 3 yand 4. 7

A rckershaft 22 is rockably mounted in 'bearings 231 dependingfronithevshelf 13 and one end of the said shaft 'is' projected through'oneend wall of the shell'a'nd has an operat- ,ing' lever 24 securedthereupon yand a stop pin secured tothe-shaft within the shell as 'at 26and is engaged by stops 27 secured to an end wall ofthe shell to limitthe rocking Vmovement of the shaft 22. Two 'U-shaped rocker members h28`have their bases pivoted as at 29' to the reinforce plate 19, and oneside 'arm 30 of each member 28 lies in a plane for passing throughthefslots 21 in the ydrop flanges 15 and 17, and the other arm 31 ofVeach member 28'is` bent a's at 32 to lie below and acrossthe anges `15and 17 whenV the y position to prevent falling f'straws through'thedisl`rcharge"sltwayl 14. iSeeFigure 3.' At the 'of the shell and definedon one side by a llO .all

juncture of each arm 3() with the base each U-inember 28 is flexiblylink-connected at 33 with a crank 34 secured at 35 on the rocker shaft22, and another crank 36 is secured on the shaft 22 and is springconnected as at 37 to the shelf 13 and serves to normally hold the partsto the position illustrated in Figure 3 of the drawings.

Two bearing brackets 38 are secured to depend from the reinforce plate19 and a bell crank agitator 39 is pivoted to each thereof and includesan upwardly inclined extension 40 adapted to work up and downthrough thetransverse slots 20 in the shelf edge and to engage the straws adjacentthe discharge slotway to agitate them and assure against sticking ormis-alignment thereof.

The agitators 39 are link connected at 41 to the cranks 42 secured at 43on the shaft 22 so that when the shaft 22 is rocked the said agitatorswill be moved as and for the purpose described.

Normally the parts are kin the position illustrated in Figures 1 and 2of the drawings with the rockable lil member arms 31 extending acrossbeneath the drop flanges 15 and 17 and the discharge slotway definedthereby and serving to support the straws against discharge through thesaidv slotway. As the operating lever 24 is forced downwardly thepositions of the members 28 will be reversed from that shown in fulllines in the said Fig ure 3 to the positions illustrated in dot and dashlinesin the said figure, vor in other words, with the arms 31 withdrawn'from across the slotway and the arms 30 inserted through thelongitudinal grooves 21 and across the said slotway. The movement of thearms 30 and 31 is such that as the arms 31 are moved from beneath thesinglestrawto-be-discharged the arms 30 will be moved beneath theremaining straws in the discharge slotway and will support themagainstdischarge movement until the arms 31 assume their normal position abovereferred to upon release of pressure upon the operating lever 24 and thereturn action of the parts occasioned by the spring 37.. Y y

It will be observed by reference to Figures 2 and 5 of the drawings thatthe respective arms 31 and 30 operate on planes spaced apart a distanceequivalent to the diameter of the straws ,so that at a certain ytime inthe change of position in the said arms from that illustrated in fulllines in Figure 3 to the positions illustrated in dot and dash lines inthat figure, both arms of each member 28 will engage the straw beingdischarged and as they are moving in opposite directions asdiagrammatically illustrated in Figure 5 of the drawings they willimpart a partial rotation to the straw by frictional engagement such aswill assure against any tendency of the straw to stick and willfacilitate the proper discharge thereof 'from the slotway.

neeaeos By reason of the provision of the agitators 39 and 4.() and thepeculiar cooperation of the arms 30 and 31 in effecting the release of asingle straw while supporting the remainder of the straws, and also theprovision of the abutment plate 16, all possibility of misalignmentofthe straws with the discharge slotway vor of sticking in warm weatheris obviated.

As a straw leavesthe discharge slotway it falls onto an outwardlydownwardly inclined plate 44 carried by the base and onto receivinghooks or fingers 45 which are spaced a considerable distance apart asisclearly illustrated in Figure 1 of the drawings. Of course, the frontwall of the shell is pro vided withy a suitable opening 46 through whichthe straws may pass. i

By spacing the members 45 as shown in Figure 1 of the drawings it ismade natural that a person graspinga straw should grasp itintermediately of its ends, thus discouraging unsanitary grasping of thestraw atl either end. rllhis fact in connection with 'closure of theshell against the promiscuous handling of the strays renders the devicedesirably sanitary. n V

In the foregoing description I Ahave disclosed a simple dispensingstructure, neat and attractive in appearance, dust-proof and sanitary.The device comprises three simple sections, namely a base, a maincentralsection which carries the articles to'be dispensed and all operatingmechanisms, and the re movable cover section. v l

While I have disclosed and described the ldevice as adaptable for use indispensing soda water straws it should be understood that the inventionmay be employed for dispensing lead pencils, and matchesV or any otherlong thin articles, and by the addition of a .suitable coincontrol meansthe device may be utilized as a vending machine;

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, it is thought that the novel details ofconstruction, the manner of use andthe advantages of my invention willbe readily apparent to those lates, y

What I clainris:

1, In a dispensing device, a base section, a shell section, and a coversection, means on said base section to receivea discharged article, saidshell section having a discharge slotway, an article-supporting shelf insaid shell section inclined to the slotway, an abutment plate deliningthe slotway in a directionA opposed to the direction of inclination ofthe shelf and spaced from the adjacent wall of the shell to provide asample display trough, a window in the shell wall adjacent said groove,and means carried by the shell section for releasing articles throughthe slotway one by one desired for use skilled in the` art to which itre- 2. ln a dispensing device, an article containing shell section, saidshell section having a discharge slotvvay, an article-supporting shelfin said shell section inclined to the slot- Way, an abutment platedefining the slotWay in a direction opposed to the direction ofinclination of the shelf and spaced from the adjacent Wall of the shellto provide a sample display trough into which articles may move to bedisplayed therein but notl to be dispensed therefrom, a window in theshell Wall adjacent said trough, and means carried by the shell sectionfor releasing articles through the slotway one by one as desired.

3. lin a dispensing device, a casing, spaced ianges forming alongitudinal discharge slotway therebetween, an inclined shelfdelivering into the slotway, at least one of the flanges havingtransverse slotWays therein, a [Ll-shaped dispensing member having thebase thereof pivotally mounted to rock about a vertical axis toalternately present the arms thereof across the discharge slotivay, one0f said arms being disposed in a plane to operate through the transverseflange slotvvays and the other of said arms being bent down to operatein a plane beneath the flanges and spaced from the plane of movement of'the lirst mentioned arm a distance at least as great as the Width of thedischarge slot, and operating devices including a link connected to thebase of the dispensing member at one side of its pivot.

l. In apparatus for dispensing soda Water straws, a casing, spacedflanges forming a longitudinal discharge slotWay therebetween, aninclined shelf delivering into the slotvvay, at least one of saidflanges having transverse slotvvays therein, a U-shaped dispensingmember having the base thereof pivotally mounted to rock about avertical axis to alternately present the arms thereof across thedischarge slotivay withv at least one of the arms operating through theflange slotways, the arms of the said dispensing member being disposedin different parallel operating planes so spaced that the said arms Willengage the straw being dispensed above and below and by their reversemovement impart rotation to the said straw and prevent sticking thereofin the dischar 'e slotWay.

G O.l S. COOKE.

